Westinghouse starts production of ADOPT fuel pellets

09 August 2024

Westinghouse has produced the first of its nuclear fuel pellets that contain higher enrichment levels than what is currently used in commercial reactors. The Low Enriched Uranium Plus (LEU+) Advanced Doped Pellet Technology (ADOPT) fuel pellets are aimed at boosting both the performance and safety of nuclear power plants.

LEU+ ADOPT fuel pellets (Image: Westinghouse)

LEU+ ADOPT fuel contains up to 8% by weight uranium-235 (U-235) and additives that improve the safety performance of the fuel compared with standard uranium dioxide. Compared with the standard 3-5% U-235 enrichment used in low-enriched uranium, LEU+ ADOPT allows the generation of more power with fewer replacement bundles within the reactor core, offering improved nuclear fuel cycle economics for operating reactors.

The first LEU+ ADOPT fuel pellets have now been pressed at Westinghouse's Springfields fuel manufacturing facility in Lancashire in northwest England, UK.

The company said the milestone was achieved in partnership with US utility Southern Nuclear and the support of the US Department of Energy (DOE).

The pellets were made from a higher enriched uranium oxide powder that was prepared by DOE's Idaho National Laboratory and marks the first time DOE material has been used to support the increased enrichment of a commercial uranium oxide fuel above 5%.

The first LEU+ ADOPT fuel pellets will now be fabricated into pins and included in four lead test assemblies in the UK before being shipped to the USA for irradiation testing at unit 2 of Southern Nuclear's Vogtle plant in Georgia next year.

In March 2023, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) gave approval for the use of Westinghouse's ADOPT fuel pellets in pressurised water reactors in the USA. In October, Southern Nuclear announced it had received authorisation from the NRC to use advanced nuclear fuel enriched up to 6% U-235 at Vogtle unit 2. This is the first time a US commercial reactor has been authorised to use fuel with over 5% enrichment.

According to Westinghouse, "demand for LEU+ ADOPT fuel in the range of 5-10%, enrichment which reduces the number of outages needed in nuclear plants, is expected to grow significantly in the coming years due to the increased demand for carbon-free electricity".

"The first production of LEU+ ADOPT fuel is a key step for achieving longer fuel cycles and reducing operational costs in the nuclear fuel industry," said Westinghouse Nuclear Fuel President Tarik Choho. "This significant milestone, which is part of our EnCore Accident Tolerant Fuel programme, will help us provide safer, more economical, reliable, clean energy to our customers across the world."

ADOPT fuel is one of several accident tolerant fuel concepts being supported through DOE's Accident Tolerant Fuel programme to deliver new fuel pellet and cladding designs that could be commercialised before the end of the decade.

Third nuclear power plant proposal lodged in Norway

08 August 2024

Norsk Kjernekraft has submitted a proposal to Norway's Ministry of Energy for an assessment of the construction of a power plant based on multiple small modular reactors (SMRs) in the municipality of Øygarden, west of Bergen.

A concept of two SMR power units (Image: Norsk Kjernekraft)

"With this, the first step in the formal process to establish a nuclear power plant in Øygarden has been initiated," the company said.

The proposed location is an area of up to 250 acres (101 hectares) at Buneset, 600 metres south of the transformer and the gas processing plant at Kollsnes. The location is said to be well suited for utilising existing and planned network infrastructure in the Bergen area. The power plant will enable the electrification of oil and gas installations, the establishment of new industry and safeguarding security of supply.

The site is owned by landowner and former mayor of Øygarden, Rolv Svein Rougnø. Rougnø earlier entered into a letter of intent with Norsk Kjernekraft and the agreement outlines that the site can be acquired for use in the construction of SMR power plants.

Norsk Kjernekraft said the site has space for five SMRs, each with a generating capacity of 300 MWe. This means that the site has the potential for generating 12.5 TWh per year, corresponding to almost 10% of Norway's current total electricity consumption.

The scope of the proposed study programme submitted to the Ministry of Energy is limited to assessing what effects construction, operation and decommissioning of the power plant can have for society and the environment.

The report describes the location in question and explains how the nuclear power plant will contribute to fulfilling local, regional and national ambitions and obligations in the field of energy and climate. In addition, local conditions for the construction and operation of a nuclear power plant at Buneset in Øygarden are described, and which topics will be described in a future impact assessment.

The ministry will send the report out for consultation, and then the municipality, residents and industry will be able to make their comments. If approved by the ministry, the report and input will form the basis for an impact assessment.

Norsk Kjernekraft noted that Vestland county, in which Øygarden is located, is the region in Norway with the highest greenhouse gas emissions. Large projects are planned for new power consumption in the county, among other things to electrify oil and gas installations. Øygarden municipality already has a large power deficit, and this will increase as a result of planned electrification projects and the establishment of new industry.

"This marks yet another important milestone for Norsk Kjernekraft, and it is the third notification sent to the Ministry of Energy," said the company's CEO Jonny Hesthammer. "Previous notifications have included Aure and Heim municipalities, as well as Vardø municipality. A nuclear power plant in Øygarden will make it possible to electrify oil and gas installations on land and offshore. In addition, it will enable new power-intensive industry, and improve the utilisation of the power grid in Western Norway.

"The power plant will produce electricity regardless of the weather, thereby improving security of supply throughout the country. This report will also be an important part of the knowledge base for the government's announced investigation into nuclear power in Norway."

In June, the Norwegian government announced the appointment of a committee to conduct a broad review and assessment of various aspects of a possible future establishment of nuclear power in the country. It must deliver its report by 1 April 2026

Newcleo expands cooperation with Slovakia

08 August 2024

Share

UK-headquartered innovative reactor developer Newcleo and Slovak nuclear engineering and services firm VUJE have signed a cooperation agreement to establish closer collaboration on developing advanced modular reactor technologies and advanced fuel cycle solutions in the Slovak Republic.

The signing of the MoU by (from left to right) Andrew Murdoch, Newcleo's managing director of UK and Slovakia operations; Matej Korec, CEO of VUJE; and Andrej Žiarovský, director for development and international operations at VUJE (Image: VUJE)

The agreement aims to foster closer cooperation between nuclear experts from both companies, focusing on Newcleo's lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR) technology and mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel.

Specific areas of cooperation may include the assessment of deploying Newcleo's LFR technology in Slovakia, exploring fuel cycle solutions to potentially re-use Slovakia's used nuclear fuel inventory, collaborating on research and development activities and developing skills and capabilities in advanced nuclear technologies.

"Slovakia has more than 50 years of nuclear tradition, know-how, and human capital in highly-skilled experts, and VUJE has been the cornerstone of nuclear in this field," said Newcleo CEO Stefano Buono. "We aim to partner with VUJE on further technical development of advanced nuclear reactors which can make use of spent nuclear fuel. This cooperation agreement could further accelerate our R&D and engineering activities in Europe.

"I am convinced that this cooperation can bring us closer to a role model solution for many European countries to decarbonise their electricity production effectively and provide a sustainable solution to their stocks of spent nuclear fuel."

VUJE CEO Matej Korec added: "VUJE, as the Slovak market leader in nuclear energy and services, is keen to cooperate on further development of state-of-the-art nuclear technologies. We believe advanced modular reactor technologies and closing the fuel cycle have great potential for the future of nuclear energy in Slovakia and Europe. By participating in Newcleo's plans, we hope to help the technology become available sooner."

This agreement is the first entered into by Newcleo's recently established Slovak subsidiary, Newcleo sro.

In December last year, Newcleo signed a memorandum of understanding with Slovakia's Ministry of Economy and state-owned radioactive waste management company JAVYS to explore collaboration opportunities and further develop advanced modular reactor technologies.

Newcleo said its LFR AS-30 reactor design has been optimised over the last 20 years leading to the concept of an ultra-compact and transportable 200 MWe module with improvements in energy density compared with other technologies. Costs are kept low by means of simplicity, compactness, modularity, atmospheric pressure operation and elevated output temperature.

The first step of Newcleo's delivery roadmap will be the design and construction of the first-of-a-kind 30 MWe LFR to be deployed in France by 2030, followed by a 200 MWe commercial unit in the UK by 2033.

At the same time, the company will directly invest in a MOX plant to fuel its reactors. In June 2022, Newcleo announced it had contracted France's Orano for feasibility studies on the establishment of a MOX production plant.

Final tier of containment installed for Russian fast reactor

08 August 2024

The third and final tier of the reactor containment structure has been installed at the construction site of the BREST-OD-300 lead-cooled fast neutron reactor at the Siberian Chemical Combine site in Seversk, in the Tomsk Region of Russia.

The third tier of the containment structure, with a hoisting weight of 164 tonnes, is moved into place (Image: Rosatom)

The containment structure of the reactor consists of three assembly blocks installed in the design position in the reactor shaft. The steel reactor base plate and lower tier of the containment were installed at the turn of the year, while the second tier was hoisted into place in April.

With the installation of the third tier, the total mass of the structure is 429 tonnes, and its height is 17 metres.

Workers will now assemble the cooling system pipelines, drying system and intermediate shell. The cavity of the enclosing structure will then be filled with heat-resistant concrete.

According to Rosatom: "The containment structure is the outer part of the reactor vessel. It provides retention of heat-insulating concrete, forming an additional localising barrier of protection, which surrounds the boundary of the coolant circuit. On its surface, the temperature should not exceed 60°C, and the radiation background is actually equal to the natural background."

The BREST-OD-300 fast reactor is part of Rosatom's Proryv, or Breakthrough, project to enable a closed nuclear fuel cycle. The 300 MWe unit will be the main facility of the Pilot Demonstration Energy Complex at the Siberian Chemical Combine site. The complex will demonstrate an on-site closed nuclear fuel cycle with a facility for the fabrication/re-fabrication of mixed uranium-plutonium nitride nuclear fuel, as well as a used fuel reprocessing facility.

The target for the BREST-OD-300 reactor is to start operation in 2026.

Initial operation of the demonstration unit will be focused on performance and after 10 years or so it will be commercially oriented. The plan has been that if it is successful as a 300 MWe (700 MWt) unit, a 1200 MWe (2800 MWt) version will follow - the BR-1200.

Foundation pit completed for Leningrad 8 reactor

07 August 2024

Workers have completed the construction of the concrete foundation pit for the reactor of unit 8 at Russia's Leningrad nuclear power plant. First nuclear safety-related concrete is scheduled to be poured for the VVER-1200 unit next year.

The foundation pit for the reactor of Leningrad 8 (Image: Rosenergoatom)

Rosenergoatom, the nuclear power plant operating division of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom - said that construction of the pit lasted for about two months and was completed two-and-a-half months ahead of schedule.

The work was carried out by workers from Titan-2, the general contractor for the construction of new power units of the Leningrad plant.

In June of this year, the construction of the foundation pit for the reactor building of unit 8 was completed. This work was completed two weeks ahead of schedule.

"The technology for constructing the concrete foundation pit included the implementation of a multi-layer drainage system - lean concrete, sand, porous concrete," said Konstantin Khudyakov, director of the Leningrad NPP Facilities Programme of JSC Concern Titan-2. "Then the drainage system was cut off with a special membrane before the concrete preparation itself."

The next stage is the start of lightning protection and waterproofing work, which will last until the end of August. Then the screed will be installed.

Evgeny Milushkin, deputy director for capital construction and head of the capital construction department of the Leningrad II plant, added: "The completed work will allow specialists to start reinforcing the foundation slab. Reinforcement with steel reinforcement creates a kind of framework and makes the foundation extremely strong. The reinforcement work is defined by an additional schedule and will begin in October of this year. Thus, we are preparing for the first key operation - concreting the foundation slab of the reactor building."

The Leningrad plant is one of the largest in Russia, with an installed capacity of 4400 MWe, and provides more than 55% of the electricity demand of St Petersburg and the Leningrad region, or 30% of all the electricity in northwest Russia.

Leningrad units 1 and 2 - both 1000 MWe RBMK units - shut down in 2018 and 2020, respectively. As the first two of the plant's four RBMK-1000 units shut down, new VVER-1200 units started at the neighbouring Leningrad II plant. The 60-year service life of these fifth and sixth units (also known as Leningrad II-1 and Leningrad II-2) secures power supply until the 2080s. Units 7 and 8 will replace units 3 and 4 as they are shut in the coming years.

The pouring of the first concrete for unit 7 in March this year marked the start of the main phase of construction of the new power unit, which is expected to generate power for 60 years, with the possibility of a 20-year extension. The foundation slab consists of about 5500 cubic metres of concrete. Last month, Rosatom said the work on the reactor building is currently running two-and-a-half months ahead of schedule, with concreting of the foundation completed.

Leningrad units 7 and 8 (or Leningrad II-3 and Leningrad II-4) are planned to be commissioned in 2030 and 2032, respectively.

Kaiga steam generator arrives on site

07 August 2024

The first steam generator for units 5 and 6 of the Kaiga nuclear power plant in India's Karnataka State has completed its journey from L&T's Hazira complex in Gujarat.

(Image: NPCIL)

Kaiga 5 and 6 will be the first of ten Indian-designed 700 MWe pressurised heavy water reactors (PHWRs) to be built using a fleet mode of construction to bring economies of scale as well as maximising efficiency, which have been given administrative approval and financial sanction by the Indian government. Excavation works for the units began in May 2022. Two 700 MWe PHWR units have already been built at Kakrapar, in Gujurat, and are already in commercial operation, and fuel loading is under way in another, Rajasthan unit 7, which is expected to begin commercial operation before the end of the year.

Steam generators are heat exchangers used to convert water into steam from heat produced in a nuclear reactor core. In PHWRs, the coolant is pumped, at high pressure to prevent boiling, from the reactor coolant pump, through the nuclear reactor core, and through the tube side of the steam generators before returning to the pump.

The component weighs over 200 tonnes and is about 24 metres in length, with a diameter of about 4 metres.

Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd currently operates four 202 MWe PHWRs at Kaiga.

(Image: NPCIL)

Researched and written by World Nuclear News